It's Easy Being Green

Aveda's intense care and attention to detail also attracts customers who couldn't care less about the environment. "About 50% of our customers aren't necessarily aware of our environmental practices," says Chris Hacker, who heads global marketing and design for Aveda. "But even if they don't get it, it's okay, because our commitment to the environment caused it to be a better-performing product for them." The "green" crowd sends letters suggesting larger shampoo bottles, so that they're more environmentally friendly. Meanwhile, the "hot pink" trendy crowd just can't get enough of Aveda's Cherry Almond Bark Conditioner. "The Birkenstock wearer and the fashionista are usually perceived as being on opposite ends of the spectrum," says Hacker. "For us, they're joined at the hip."

Aveda doesn't relish its environmental distinctiveness, though, and its execs have romantic aspirations to convert the entire industry. "One of our goals is to bring other companies along," says Hacker. "If our biggest competitor called me up and asked me how to do recycling, I'd tell him."

But if Aveda succeeds in transforming the beauty biz -- it's already working within Estee Lauder -- what will happen to the brand's defining competitive edge? Dan Brestle, an Estee Lauder group president and a nascent environmentalist, argues, "By the time what they're doing today is an industrywide practice, Aveda will be doing more." Currently, Aveda's lab coats are working to disprove the long-held belief that hair is a dead material, which could open the door to a new way of thinking about hair products for the industry. "Aveda is a self-propelling mission," says Brestle. "The bigger it gets, the more good it does." And the better its customers smell.

Sidebar: Mind, Body, and Soul

Ideologically based brands such as Aveda forge the strongest bonds with customers, says Douglas Atkin, author of The Culting of Brands -- if they can live up to their contracts. Here's how to create and maintain a shared belief system with customers.

• STAND up for your beliefs. Afraid to alienate any customer, most brands stay bland. Aveda's strong stance on beauty extends through its products' pores to its customers.
• SURF on the back of cultural movements. Rechelbacher didn't create the green movement, he joined it. That gave Aveda a ready-made community of brand loyalists.
• EXFOLIATE your ideology. Not every brand has Aveda's roots, but you can always bring an ideology to the surface by asking your employees and customers what they think.
• BREATHE it every day. Aveda not only makes sure its business practices are eco-friendly, but its everyday practices as well. When Aveda's corporate campus became overrun with geese, it opted for a natural solution: a geese-herding dog named Dirk.